foot freezing to floor

[suzie50]

Why would my dad's foot freeze to the ground when walking?  moves all over when sitting.  had shunt put in 9 years ago for hydochephalus.  working fine.  gradually lost ability to walk over years.  had surgery for spinal stenosis about 3 years ago.  4-6 fusions in neck, can't remember exactly.  has really gone down hill with walking since then.  Now he also can't sit on anything without a back because he falls backwards and can't get up.  Was put on parkinson meds for 12 wks.  didn't change anything.  he moves like someone who has parkinsons or has had a stroke.  Both ruled out.  it's strange because when he sits he can lift the leg, he can drive his car, he has strength in leg that surprises doctors.  but the minute he trys walking it starts freezing.  It seems to be worse when he goes from floor to carpet, or when people are around etc.   ever heard of such a thing?  have taken him all over the country to specialists..still haven't found anything

[suzie50]

Thank you for this infomation.  Some of it sounds like dad.  I will bring this up with the doc when we go back.  Any other ideas?

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi

How is your father now?

Your father could be having poor sensory perception of the changes in floor surface, that could be due to age. As a result the he just freezes or changes his style of walking to avoid slipping. Also when he is around others, there are so many other perceptions, that his sensory perception of the floor surface further decreases. Hence though he drives and has strength in his legs, he is able to manage because these as they do not need the sensory perception from feet that is required for walking.

Several studies indicate that “sensory changes in the elderly increased the likelihood of slips and falls more than their younger counterparts. This was due to incorrect perceptions of floor slipperiness, and uncompensated slip parameters such as slip distance and adjusted friction utilization.” Refer: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6VF9-45CC1BN-B&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=78cad810cddef7b7534a51557c723135

You can also refer: http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0966636206001688

Hope this helps. Please let me know if you need any more information. Please keep me posted.